Welcome to Ability Store-Chapter 55 - 54: Ability Users Like Him

In Qiao Xi’s view, today was absolutely a dream-like day.

Being a reporter at the scene of a hot event was already very fortunate. It didn’t matter if the Masked Woman would appear or if the ability thing was real; what mattered was that countless pairs of eyes would see her through the television. With the rise of live streaming and self-media, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But she didn’t expect that things would take such a turn.

Although the Masked Woman arrived a bit early, she indeed showed up in public. However, she didn’t act as righteously as the promotion suggested; instead, she seemed like a wannabe influencer. With heavy makeup on her face, she kept avoiding demonstrating her ability, instead prompting the onlookers to focus on her social media account, eliciting boos from the crowd.

Qiao Xi didn’t find it surprising. These days, too many people wanted fame, and the superpower thing was far too mysterious. She found it hard to believe that everyone had the chance to gain abilities, let alone a mysterious organization lurking underwater controlling everything. Yet, the public just loved tales about modern-day Freemasons or the Rothschild family, and any similar topic could spark massive discussion.

She thought this event would end in a ridiculous farce, but a shout of "Dinosaurs" jerked her back from her daydream.

Qiao Xi didn’t even think about the meaning of the word; she just instinctively turned her head for a glance, but that one glance made the goosebumps creep up her back to her arms!

There was only an iron fence between the zoo and the botanical garden, with no high buildings in either park, so any moving object over ten meters tall would be quite noticeable.

She saw a dinosaur leisurely wandering in the botanical garden — to be exact, its half neck and head!

Screams rose one after another around her, some from fright, others from sheer excitement.

Her colleague in charge of photography faired no better. Confronted with a scene so unreal even in dreams, he couldn’t get a word out except for stammering sounds. But at least he hadn’t forgotten his duty, aiming the big lens on his shoulder squarely at the dinosaur’s head.

Seeing how dedicated her colleague was, a flash of inspiration hit Qiao Xi, and she introduced, "Dear viewers, we have unexpectedly discovered a strange creature on-site. If I’m not mistaken, this is a Thunder Dragon, living in the Jurassic Era 150 million years ago! Is it a replica model? But looking at how naturally it moves, it doesn’t seem driven by mechanics. With this question, let’s go find out!"

Having said that, she waved to the cameraman, not bothering to see if he understood, and pushed through the crowd toward the fence.

"Sister Xi, aren’t we interviewing the Masked Woman?" her assistant Xiaoya asked in astonishment.

"What’s worth interviewing about a fake? And with so many people waiting!" Qiao Xi replied without looking back. "A dinosaur is way more interesting than her!"

A truly astonishing piece of news in the otherwise mundane botanical garden, an extinct creature impossible to occur suddenly emerged—it was not something she could miss! 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

She couldn’t even wait to follow the normal procedure — exiting the zoo and then entering the botanical garden.

Reaching the fence, Qiao Xi tore open her skirt hem, and smoothly climbed up the iron railing just like she used to climb trees as a child.

This posture wasn’t graceful, and it would most likely be captured by the surrounding people, but it was indeed the quickest way into the neighboring park.

The other two colleagues were dumbfounded.

"How are we supposed to get over?"

"Zhou Yuanjun, you’re a guy, can’t you climb over?" By this time, Qiao Xi had already reached the highest point. From this angle, she could almost see the uneven back of the Thunder Dragon, further convinced it was a living creature, not any kind of model.

"But I’m carrying the camera!" Zhou Yuanjun replied awkwardly.

"Hand it to Xiaoya for safekeeping. You can also stream directly to the TV station using your phone; it would just be a bit lower resolution." She said decisively.

"Alright, then."

As the two were climbing the fence, the other onlookers also began imitating them.

Obviously, as long as there’s something exciting happening, the crowd can burst out with incredible action.

After landing, Qiao Xi quickly crossed over the separation flower bed and a row of greenhouses. Just as she stepped onto the pathway, a massive chunk of flesh landed in front of her, making her fall back onto the ground in fright.

That was no chunk of flesh, it was clearly a dinosaur’s hind leg!

She raised her head, like staring up a skyscraper, watching the massive body move slowly in front of her, unable to suppress her excitement!

This was indeed a living Thunder Dragon!

Every step it took made the ground tremble slightly, and the gray bricks on the path were crushed and misaligned, but so what? Dinosaurs were far rarer than the neighboring giant pandas!

Qiao Xi signaled her colleague to shoot quickly while restraining her slightly trembling voice, raising the microphone, "W-we are now in the botanical garden, and can see the Thunder Dragon is less than an arm’s reach from us. It looks terrifying, but naturally, it’s a gentle herbivorous dinosaur, so there’s no need to worry too much about safety issues."

"Oh my, there’s not just one dinosaur! Behind the Thunder Dragon are two Saber-toothed Dragons... they’re also herbivores, though smaller compared to the Thunder Dragon, they still easily surpass four meters tall."

"Over there, a Winged Dragon is flying over, I can hardly believe my eyes. What on earth happened here that allowed ancient creatures long extinct to reappear? I believe viewers share the same question, but regardless of the situation, I will continue to deliver on-the-ground news..."

Qiao Xi didn’t expect the miscellaneous knowledge she learned would come in handy one day. She continued reporting, growing more and more enthusiastic; this was far more intriguing than the Masked Woman’s petty affair!

"Sister Xi, watch out!" Zhou Yuanjun, who was filming her, suddenly shouted.

Qiao Xi was staring at the Winged Dragon perched on a tree, and upon realizing, found herself already in the middle of a crossroad. Unfortunately, there was another Thunder Dragon on the other path rushing towards her. However, that dragon seemed spooked, almost charging towards the crossroad, and by the time she noticed the dinosaur, there were less than ten meters between them.

This distance was but a blink of an eye for a Thunder Dragon longer than twenty meters.

Qiao Xi quickly retreated, trying to escape its collision path, but being too nervous made her trip and fall. At the moment she fell, she could see the imposing creature looming over so close, the shadow of a small mountain completely enveloping her!

It’s over.

Her heart sank to the freezing floor.

If only she hadn’t gone so far...

Just then, a man’s figure rushed into her field of vision, colliding heavily with the Thunder Dragon’s leg and slapping it twice, seemingly hoping to chase away the frightened dinosaur.

To outsiders, this might seem like an ant trying to stop a cart — after all, even one of the dragon’s legs was as tall as an adult; even a truck might not topple it, not to mention punching and kicking, which looked like scratching an itch.

Yet, unbelievably, after those two dull slaps, the Thunder Dragon let out a whimper, its massive leg shifted direction subtly, almost brushing past Qiao Xi’s side, landing half a meter away on the stone pavement! Had that foot not missed, she might have been in grave danger.

"Are you alright? Can you still walk?" The man pulled her up.

With sunglasses and a mask, he seemed vaguely familiar to her.

It felt like she had heard this voice somewhere before.

But she couldn’t recall where, so she thanked him, "I-I’m alright... T-thanks for before!"

"It’s nothing, just don’t get so close next time." Saying so, he ran after the frightened Thunder Dragon, as if chasing it.

"Wow... Sister Xi, you scared me to death!" Zhou Yuanjun managed to catch up, "I was ready to eat your banquet just now!"

"Eat your big-headed ghost!" Qiao Xi retorted as she lightly tapped his head. Her legs were still trembling slightly, "I can’t count on you to save people, you can’t even say something nice?"

"Well, it’s okay if you’re alright." Zhou Yuanjun helped her sit down, "Who was that guy just now? So cool! I didn’t even see where he dashed out from, just wham, collided with the dinosaur’s foot. That giant creature actually staggered from his hit, simply unbelievable!"

"Perhaps... it was just a coincidence?" Qiao Xi murmured, watching the dinosaur’s silhouette disappearing into the distance.

"I think so too, given the massive weight difference, maybe the dinosaur was scared by his aura. But..." Zhou Yuanjun couldn’t help but exclaim, "If there really are Ability Users in the world, they should be people like him."